Animal trap



Aug. 9 1927. 1,638,767

' W. l. HARMON ANIMAL TRAP Filed Jan, 50. 1925 INVENTOR vamp )4? Z jg/(110M012 ATTORNEYS WITNESSES 7 section and partly in elevation showing the Patented Aug. 9, I

I xwatam ;HA i ,-.0E A GL YLWA 'NGTQN- a 1mm:

' Application filed: Janua This inventionlrelates to an improvement in' animal traps especially designed for catching rats and mice. Y

ufacture and in which there is no trigger inechanismxor other complicated elements to getoutoford'erfl 4 and trap even the most wary mice and-rats being caught.

"A further object is the provisio bra ap, I fsu'ch construction as to facil ita te thefen' I trance of animals andyet absolutely-pre vent their escape. 1 2'0 arrangement and scribed and particularly pointedout in the,

appended claims, referen'ceibeing'had .to the accompanying drawings forming" a part of this specification, and 1n which: f I I Figure 1 is a. perspectivejviewcf one en1- bodiment of theinvention,

vItigure 2 is a view in horizontal section, Figure 3 is a detail perspective view of the fingers employed'at the entrance of the trap for preventing the escape of the animals, and

Figure. 4: 1s a fragmentary view partly in means employed for holding the fingers in inoperative position. I a I a Referring to the draw1ngs,'the numeral 1 e0 designates generally acontainer which may be made of suitable material and whlch in- I cludes a'bottom 2, side walls 3, an end wall 4: and a top wall 5, The end wall 4 and top wall 5 may be made of wiremesh; At the forward end of thetrap the side walls are reduced and have plates 6 and 7 fastened thereto so as to define an opening 8 leading into the interior of the trap. I

v I A frame, designated generally at 9, is pro- 10 fastened on the bottom of a top plate 11, the side bars 10 inclining towardeach other and converging inwardly ofthe trap and having their inner ends spaced, whereby the.

A further object is the provision ofatrap i of this character which is effective to entice and WhlCh is so constructed and'-- o rgitnized that the animals cannot rob the trap without vided and'includes a pair of rigid side barsv bilityof escape of animals that ha'veenteredu the trap; 1 The bottom 2fofthe containeris I v, flat and smooth and provides arunwayinto The object of the invention is the pro 5 vision of a trap which 'is simple, inconstruc f tion and comparatively inexpensiveto manthe trap of such a character as to afford ai sure" footing for the animals fand'--'encourage I 10 are frictionally engaged with the reduced forwardends of th eside wallsfi to hold tl1er H 4 fram :inz ositio'nl This" has been f un I be sufficient but if desirable fastening ineans V I be'employedi'for this purpose- K llfean'sf is provided for preventing the as cape animals fromthe'ftr'ap while permits 7,0 l tlngtheir.ready entrance'thereinto and such means'ispreferablyfcarried -by the side walls 1O andc onsistsfqffa pluralityk of shortpfins I gers 12 anda plurality of longfingers" 13 on- I e I I each side wall. Q The'shortfingers 12 andthe; 5 V Othenobjects .and advantages reside i1i certain novel features of the construction, combination of parts which will be hereinafter more fully 'delonger,.fi ngersf 1 3 each *t vall'm'ay stamped or cut-froi'n the same piece ofmetal and may be integrally formedwithian'ata .taching plate *Thefplates'14 are fas-1 tened toithe side bars lOSOthat one end-"of each finger is connected toithe "sijdefbarjon their ends the fingers are bowed so that the} I firigersextend outwardly. and toward each J The fingers 12 areb'owed more J sharply than the fingers13, the fingers 13 "lying between the fingers 12 and-the innereo other.

faces of the sidebars 10. As shown in the drawings all of the fingers are narrow and r elongated and these-fingers are'constructed of resilient or spri'ng metal; By reason "of". these. characteristics ananimal may readig pass into the trap,the fingers yielding-rea ilyto permit entrance of the animals. I After theanijmal has entered the trap its escape, is prevented since'the entrance is blocked by I the pointed ends-of the fingersfl2 and 13. 109

The fingers 1 3 prevent the animal from pressing the fingers 12 out of the way since 7 these fingers 13 lie socloseto the inner faces of the side bars as to prevent the animals ,i

from getting in the *space between the fingers 12 and the side bars. Of-course, suitable bait is placed within'thehousing or re ceptacle 1 'to attract and lure the animals into the trap, Applicant has found that animals become wary ofxand avoid a trap. 110

after the same has been used'for sometime, andrln order to overcome this deficiency I I render his trap inoperative at times so that the animals may pass freely into andout of i the same without injury. In fact, -ithas been found'that the best results are achieved when some food isplaced in the trap forth'e animals when the trap'is in perativemlior this purpose a springmember, i'designated generally at 1 5, is pivotally, mounted on a h deba 0, ea h sp in mem e ei 7 constructed-of resilient wire and having arms .16 united by a coil 17, the; coilll be: ing mini-ably fitted on a'pivot 18. A plate 19 is carried by the outer ends of the spring arms. l6." Yi lhenthe spring members :15 are c fso disposed-that their plates 19 occupy the PQSitiOHQSlIO S III in Figure l the? trap is ope- 'erat ire n the pring m m r 15 are illee-r tive. When it is desired to render the trap inoperative the-plates: 19 are grasped and;

e pr g m mbers x d; away from the side bars; and rotatable through; '18 to ing t pletes 1m posit n e g the ifingersi2 andl3 when the spring members ;are released yWhen'the'spring members have be n r le se an t e P a P r i e di are ove e-E -e, -sewin m bers 15 urge t;he plates19 against-the fingers 12 and 13'press these fingers 12 and13 flush. up J against; the inner faces of the side bars 10, This leaves: the entranceflto the V v g trap unobstructedboth in respect of ingress m eg e er y robb g t e a im -0 theiracquired fear of the trap eim r a 11 111; ana i a1.t 2ae. a wrt le a hs means; defining an entrance, said entrance having side walls converging intothe receptacle but having their inner ends spaced and I 40 v a plurality of elongate'dresilient fingers carried by' each side w-all-,---eacl1 resilient finger ha ving its outer end fastened to the side wall on which it is mounted and having its inner end tree, and pointed, the fingers being bowed so'that their pointed ends lie closely adjacent to prevent egress from the receptacle, the fingers being readily flexed to permit ingress to the receptacle, and holding means co-operable with the fingers for maintaining the same fiat up. against the side Walls Qf the entrance and inoperative when desired.

2. In an' animaltrap a"receptaclehaving ing; bowed so that their pointed' endsj lie 7 closely adjacentto prevent egress from the receptacle, the fingers being readily fiexed to permit ingress to the receptacle, and holding means. co-operablewith the fingers for maintaining thesame fiat up against'the side walls of the. entrance and inoperative when desired, said holding means comprising a springvmemloer pivotally' mounted on. each si'de.wal1 of the entrance; each spring fingers of its side walls.

Harmon; 1

i member having a plate engageable 'with the} i 

